This is not the middle of nowhere it’s the centre of everywhere the sweet space between wet forests and dry deserts where there’s more eucalypts than there’s elements in the periodic table; more flowering plants than in the UK where banded iron never goes out of fashion with water in rocky cracks and rare views over subtle topography what’s more, it’s my home

Bungalbin

by the time we reached Bungalbin we had forgotten what a hill looks like and a range seemed impossible in this flat expansiveness but the earth reaching skyward was unmistakable

We camped in Helena and Aurora’s wide embrace long ironstone arms stretched out around us striped with geology

Night lacewing (Myrmeleontidae family)

the creatures of the night remind me of the mystery of life of ecosystems of the things that are hidden from our view but that are nevertheless essential parts of our existence

Abandoned mine

after the minerals have been traded profits spent workers retrenched, or retired that water will still be a strange shade of green

Red-legged arachnid

I walked a thousand kilometres till my legs were red and hairy I lost and found myself in between these leaves and branches and I won’t forget